Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Who Needs Fiction: Home Self Defense

When a man broke into Karen Dolley’s home on Thursday night, her training in medieval combat came in handy. So did her sword.

The 43-year-old woman said she awoke around midnight to the voice of a man in her house near 10th Street and Emerson Avenue on Indianapolis' Eastside.

She leapt out of bed, turned on the lights and saw him standing in her living room, she said. Then her instincts kicked in.

Dolley, standing 5-foot-6, said she immediately attacked, punching him about 10 times and cornering him in her bedroom.

She reached for her gun in a nearby drawer, but she accidentally opened the wrong drawer during the chaos of the moment, so her gun wasn’t there.

She reached for her backup weapon, a Japanese-styled sword called ninjato, which she keeps near her bed. Her intruder crouched in the bedroom as she held him at sword-point until police arrived, she said.

She called 911 and police arrived within two minutes, she said.

Police say Jacob Wessel, 30, of Greenwood, was arrested after forcing his way through the house's backdoor. Wessel, standing at 5-foot-10, was later charged with residential entry, a Level 6 felony.

“I didn’t think I was getting good blows in but my knuckles are bruised today,” said Dolley, 43, on Friday. “Hitting someone like that, it isn’t like the movies. You’re expecting it to be louder and see people jerk around, but that’s not how it happens in real life.”This is the sword Karen Dolley, 43, used on Thursday

Dolley actually has some experience in medieval combat fighting from her days as an 18-year-old fighter in the Society for Creative Anachronism, a nonprofit for members who re-create arts and skills from Europe prior to the 17th Century, according to the organization’s website.

Dolley would don armor and engage in unchoreographed fights using rattan swords, which are safer than steel. She fought against men who stood taller than 6 feet and had 20 years experience.